“Thank you.” I take them from him and plug them in and start scrolling through the options of what movie to watch.
We push back from the gate, and he reaches for my hand to hold.
We make our way to the runway, and he softly rubs his thumb over mine in the most soothing manner I’ve ever felt.
When the pilot thrusts us forward, racing down the runway for takeoff, David leans over, grabs my head with his hand, and pulls me toward him to kiss me until we’re floating in air, both literally and figuratively.
I should be on cloud nine right now, but all I can think about is how I’m going to tell him who I really am and just how pissed off he’s going to be that I hid it from him this entire trip.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Zoe
We step off the escalators, and there’s a guy holding a sign with my name on it.
David points to him. “That’s for you to take back to the office. I’m going with them. I already took today off before we knew about this trip since they were coming to town.” He motions to his family.
“Oh. Okay. Thanks for setting that up.” I feel an awkward goodbye happening inside me, so I turn to leave, wanting to avoid it at all costs.
“Not so fast.” He grabs my arm. “When can I see you this weekend?”
“Aren’t you going to be busy with them?” I ask quietly so they don’t hear, which is obviously not quiet enough.
Katie places her hand on David’s shoulder. “We have a busy schedule planned. He is just giving us a place to stay. I can let you guys know exactly when we won’t be there so you’ll have the place to yourself.”
She winks, and I internally die.
“Or he can just stay at your place so you guys can bang all you want, giving us the apartment to ourselves,” she suggests, making my eyes bulge out of my head.
“Katie, leave them alone,” Mary yells out.
This time, I can’t help myself, and I bury my face in my hands in complete and utter embarrassment.
“Wait. No!” She bounces a little on her feet—something I notice she does a lot when she’s excited. “You should come with us to pick up my dress!”
I wave my arms in front of me. “Oh, no. No. I couldn’t go do something like that.”
“Come on! I’d love to have you there. I want to get to know the girl my brother has talked about for the past year.”
“Complained about.” David speaks up to clarify.
Katie leans in to me. “You know that’s just boy speak for talking about who he likes, right?”
“No, it is not!” David tries to change her mind.
Katie looks at him and then me. “Did you not spend the night with her last night?”
His eyes meet mine, and we both turn a shade of red but keep our mouths shut.
“My point exactly. Check. Mate. Brother.” She faces me fully. “So then, you’ll join us?”
I inhale and shrug. “Yeah, fine.”
I have no idea what else to say, but going with them to pick up her dress sounds both fun and insane. I just met these people, and this is a very intimate family moment.
She does her little jump again and wraps her arms around me. “I’m so glad to have met you. See you tomorrow.”
She leaves, and David grabs my hand, holding it in his own.
